These Things Can Happen
by Englishrosepetals
Summary: Shelagh struggles with the news of something she thought was impossible and the distance between herself and Sister Julienne. Will mainly contain Turnadette and Shulienne
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I've decided to try and write another fic since the last one was pretty fun! I don't own any of the characters!**

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"Do we really have to go today Patrick? I know it was nice of Nurse Franklin to invite us, but I'm not sure they'll actually want us there." Shelagh sighed as she changed out of her nurse's uniform before they went for dinner at Nonnatus.

"Nurse Franklin wouldn't have invited us if they didn't want us there my love. You're just worried in case Sister Julienne doesn't want us there, and we still don't know why she's been acting so strange around us, or if she's acting strange around everyone. She could just still be grieving." Patrick replied trying desperately to keep his wife from getting upset, Shelagh had been particularly tired and emotional recently with everything that had been going on and Sister Julienne being short with her was definitely not helping.

"Well, I guess you could be right, I think we must have offended her with the pill more than we thought we would." Shelagh mused, "Sister Julienne's never anything but kind to me usually, but recently it's like she can't stand to be around me! I guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything changes." She smiled sadly to her husband as she left the room to see if her daughter had woken up from her nap. Patrick sighed, he hated seeing his wife upset and he wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help the situation. Deciding that his usual routine of standing around thinking instead of getting ready, a habit that did not have a good effect on his wife's stress levels, was not going to work today, he set about finding an appropriate tie.

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It was Trixie was answered the door at Nonnatus house upon the Turner's arrival.

"Shelagh! You've managed to get your husband somewhere on time! I'm impressed." She said teasingly, reaching out to take the youngest Turner in her arms for a cuddle, "We're just in the living room!" The Turners removed their coats and Shelagh briefly felt nauseas, as she had times over the past few weeks. Trying to ignore it she followed Trixie and Patrick through to the living room. Everyone, except for Sister Winifred and Barbara, was sat down busy watching the television, doing some sort of craft or talking, but everyone looked up and greeted them. Everyone except for Sister Julienne who looked up quickly before looking back down at her knitting. The Turners shared a quick look and hoped that the awkwardness wasn't as obvious to other people before going to sit down on the end of the sofa.

Dinner at Nonnatus was tense. Patrick and Sister Mary Cynthia had been called out minutes before dinner and had gone to assist Barbara at a birth. Everyone, apart from young Angela who was far too busy babbling away to Delia Busby about her new teddy, had noticed that Sister Julienne was acting uncomfortable around Shelagh. Now that Shelagh was sitting around the table with everyone she realised that Sister Julienne was acting completely normal around everyone else. Unfortunately Shelagh did not have time to dwell on this long, as soon as she had begun to eat an overwhelming wave of nausea hit her.

"Oh, um, please excuse me a moment!" She said as she quickly stood up and ran out of the room. Trixie got up and followed Shelagh out as everyone else turned to sister Julienne expecting her to follow too. Nobody knew exactly what was going on between them, but everyone knew that Shelagh and Sister Julienne had once had a very close relationship and they expected Sister Julienne to be concerned about Shelagh especially with the noises they could hear coming from the bathroom. Instead she just seemed to stare blankly back at them. After realising that Sister Julienne was not going to help Nurse Crane stood up and said, "I think I'll go and fetch Mrs Turner some water." before leaving the room.

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Nurse Crane entered the bathroom to find Trixie trying to keep Shelagh's hair out of her face. It was a few more minutes before Shelagh managed to stop, leaning against Trixie as the nausea began to wear off. She gave a weak but grateful smile to Nurse Crane as she sipped her water slowly.

"How far along?" Nurse Crane asked gently.

"Pardon?" Came Shelagh's confused reply.

"Mrs Turner, you don't have to pretend with me, I have been a midwife long enough to recognise the symptoms! Don't worry, I'm sure Nurse Franklin and I can keep a secret if you would prefer it not to get around just yet." Nurse Crane said softly, becoming concerned as she noticed Shelagh's eyes begin to fill with tears.

"Nurse Crane, as I'm sure you have heard by now, either by someone here telling you outright or through the various stories that seem to go around poplar, I cannot have children." This time, Shelagh's reply had been almost instantaneous, she desperately wanted to stop Nurse Crane from saying any more on the subject which she knew would end up with her being far too emotional.

"These things can happen sometimes Shelagh, and it would explain a lot," Trixie tried to reason with her friend, "you've been tired, you've been emotional, you're clearly not feeling well and to be honest, your uniform has been looking a little snug."

"I've just been eating a lot of biscuits." Shelagh replied quietly, her mind struggling to take all of this in.

"Perhaps Nurse Franklin should take you upstairs to examine you and I'll go back and tell the others that you just need a bit of rest?" Nurse Crane said kindly as they helped Shelagh stand up.

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Shelagh lay down in silence as Trixie performed her examination. Her head was spinning, it wasn't possible, was it? She looked down as Trixie placed the pinned onto her abdomen and felt shocked. The smile on Trixie's face said it all.

"Re..really?" Shelagh asked in disbelief as Trixie took her measurements.

"Yep! I'd say you're about 11 weeks so I'm guessing you want this to be kept quiet?" Trixie asked. Patrick burst into the room before Shelagh could answer.

"Shelagh, Nurse Mount said you weren't feeling well, are you alri… are you alright?" Patrick stopped suddenly and looked down at his wife. Shelagh blushed and pulled her blouse back down to cover her abdomen.

"Um, yes, I think I'm fine thank you Patrick. We need to talk when we get home though." Shelagh replied.

"Yes, of course. Why don't you go to the car and I'll go and get Angela from Nurse Busby and then we can talk?" Patrick asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought of what Shelagh might want to tell him. Shelagh nodded as Patrick turned to leave the room. She thanked Trixie and tucked in her blouse. As Shelagh left, she tried think about the wonderful things this could bring. Instead, her uneasy mind kept wandering back to all the difficulties this could cause.

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 **Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll be updating soon and that chapter shouldn't contain quite so much dialogue!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N This chapter explores Sister Julienne's feelings about the recent events in the show and in my last chapter. T** **hank you to everyone who reviewed last time!**

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At Nonnatus House that night Sister Julienne sat up thinking. What was wrong with her? Everything had changed so much recently and she felt lost. She'd always felt sure of how things would go. Sister Evangelina and herself would live through their old age together. They'd still have to face the challenges of the declining number of members of the order, the lack of finances given to Nonnatus and the eventual final decline of Sister Monica Joan's health. And then when Sister Julienne became too fragile to run Nonnatus House, she would hand over the reins to the competent, clever and very kind Sister Bernadette. She'd had every confidence that the woman who she'd come to think of as a daughter would have been brilliant at running Nonnatus house.

Now all of these plans had changed. Sister Evangelina had now passed, and Sister Julienne felt like she was facing these problems on her own. And she had no idea which of her younger Sisters would be taking over from her, or even if they were capable of doing so. Sister Winifred tried to stay positive and be helpful, but Sister Julienne found her to be too judgmental at times and she would need to become more open-minded before she could deal with the emotional and moral decisions that needed to be made whether they were about the occupants of the convent or the people they were helping. Sister Mary Cynthia was much less judgmental, but there was a chance she would still be fairly young when the time came and she still needed to learn to voice her opinions more. It was times like this when she almost wished Sister Bernadette hadn't chosen to leave the order. Sister Julienne had always tried to be nothing but supportive of her former Sister, and in truth, she was very happy for her. Now known as Shelagh Turner, the former Sister Bernadette had blossomed with the love of her husband and two children and had returned to nursing only when it would help her family. But despite all of the changes she had faced Shelagh had always come to Sister Julienne if she had a problem. Until recently.

Sister Julienne had noticed that Shelagh had been looking tired at the clinic. She knew that the recent thalidomide scandal and the death of Sister Evangelina would be having an effect on her and part of Sister Julienne wished that Shelagh would come to her if she was struggling. The problem was, Sister Julienne also realised that she herself had been pushing Shelagh away. She wasn't completely sure when it had started, but she thought it might have been when the Turners introduced the pill to her. Sister Julienne struggled at first to accept that Shelagh could possibly believe that the positive aspects of the pill outweighed the negatives. Yes, it would prevent a lot of unwanted pregnancies, but wasn't distributing it just giving women permission to have recreational intercourse?

The more she thought about this, the more Sister Julienne realised that she was in the wrong. She kept considering every little thing she had done to push Shelagh away. Not considering the Turner's opinions on the pill had been one. Calling Shelagh out on her morals had definitely been another and perhaps the worst. And asking for plainer biscuits had just been petty. Sister Julienne struggled sometimes to accept that Shelagh wasn't just Sister Bernadette in different clothes. Shelagh was Mrs. Turner. She was a wife, a mother, an occasional secretary, a nurse as well as being a friend to many and a well-liked figure in the community. Perhaps Shelagh was the person Sister Bernadette had wanted to be. Perhaps this was why her opinions had changed. Maybe her comment about recreational intercourse had hurt Shelagh. Although Sister Julienne had intended it to be directed about unmarried couples, it was true that she wasn't completely sure about its purpose, outside of procreation, for married couples either. And yet Sister Julienne had been aware that it happened. She had seen proof from the likes of Nora Harding, who hadn't intended to become pregnant but wanted to be with her husband. But maybe the Turners, as a married couple who couldn't have children in this way, were more knowledgeable on the subject and she should have listened more.

Sister Julienne's mind wandered back to what had happened earlier that day. Shelagh was clearly unwell yet she hadn't gone to check if she was alright. She couldn't work out why this was. It definitely wasn't because she didn't care. Shelagh was one of the most important people in the world to her. Was it because she felt ashamed of the distance that had grown between them? Was she embarrassed by the comments she had made? Was it because she thought it might be possible that Shelagh could be angry or upset and didn't want her to be part of her personal life anymore? No. It couldn't be that, could it? If it was any of these things, Sister Julienne had to make it right. She had already lost one important person to her recently, and she was not going to lose another.

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 **Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N This chapter contains quite a bit of dialogue, but it was needed for the next chapter to make sense. Thanks to 'britfan913' and 'like-an-officer-and-a-sergeant' on Tumblr for their advice, and thanks to everyone who's been leaving reviews!**

It wasn't until later that night that the Turners finally had time to talk. First, Angela had insisted on trying to walk to the car with no help and had fallen and scraped her knee. This had meant Shelagh had spent entire the car journey home trying to comfort her and when they got home Patrick had to clean it and put a plaster on while Shelagh tried her best to stop Angela from squirming. Then Timothy returned home later than intended from a cricket match and panicked because he hadn't actually finished his school project (even though he had insisted that he had in order to be allowed to go to the game). This resulted in both of his parents pitching in to try and help him get everything word perfect and well presented. Then came Angela's night routine. Then came the usual routine of Timothy insisting he was old enough to stay awake just a little bit longer.

After checking that Timothy was definitely asleep Shelagh returned to the living room to find Patrick sitting and waiting for her. He looked at her with concern.

"So, earlier in Nurse Franklin's room….?" Patrick started, unsure of how to bring up the sensitive topic properly.

"I'm pregnant." Shelagh said quickly. She was desperate to get this conversation out if the way, the extra time she'd had to think about it had only given her time to think of more things to worry about.

"Right. Are you sure?" Patrick asked, "I mean, how…?"

Despite already having thought of more problems that this could cause than she was comfortable with, Shelagh at least had enough humour left in her to find Patricks question funny. Surely they of all people should know?

"Well, Patrick, when a man and a woman love each other very much…" Shelagh stopped suddenly as she felt Patrick pull her towards him and kiss her passionately. They continued for a few moments until the need air became too great, "Well, sometimes they do that." Shelagh continued, red in the face and a little more flustered than the last time she had spoken. "Nurse Crane was actually the one who figured it out, and Nurse Franklin examined me to confirm it. I guess it does happen sometimes."

"Well then we're very lucky! Shelagh, we already have two brilliant children who are two of the best parts of our lives!" Patrick said, smiling as he of the children who seemed to find a new way to make him smile every day. The grin that had been present on his face dropping as he noticed how worried Shelagh looked, "surely another child would be just as wonderful?"

"Of course he or she would! But….. Oh Patrick! There're so many problems this could cause!" Shelagh dropped down to sit on the sofa and buried her face in her hands, all the emotions she had been holding in that day suddenly spilling out.

"Problems my love? I understand this will mean a few changes, but I can't think of anything that would make you this upset." Patrick moved to sit beside her, wrapping his arms around her as he waited for her to speak. It broke his heart to feel her small body shaking as she tried to find the words to tell him what was wrong.

"It's not the little changes around the house or to our schedule that bother me, Patrick." Shelagh turned to face him. "It's everything else. If Tim will feel like he's being pushed out or that we won't have as much time for him. How Angela will feel now about not being the centre of my attention most of the time. How she'll feel when she's older and she finds out that she's adopted and this baby is biologically ours. What other people will think. There's just so many potential problems and I keep thinking of more problems and no answers to them!"

"Okay well, why don't we try and focus on the problems you've already thought of and try and solve them? For a start, Tim will never feel like he's being pushed out, he loves Angela, he'll be very glad that she won't be on her own when he leaves home and he knows we spend as much time with him as we can! At his age, he's the one who spends most of his time out or in his room anyway. And as for Angela, she'll probably enjoy having a playmate and someone to boss around! And when she's older and asks the questions about where she came from we'll tell her the truth. We'll tell her how much we wanted a baby and how much we've loved her since the day we got her and she'll never have any reason to doubt that. And as for what other people will think, why is anyone going to have a problem with a married couple having a child?"

"Of course people are going to have a problem with it, Patrick! I'm not supposed to be able to have children. That means that any….. You know…. That we've done has been entirely for recreational purposes and some people will have a problem with that!" Shelagh almost shouted the last part in her frustration. Patrick sighed.

"We're back to what Sister Julienne thinks of you, aren't we?" He said gently.

"Sister Julienne won't be the only person with a problem with it. There are probably still people who have a problem with a nun leaving an order and getting married so soon after. The same people who probably thought that my baroness was my punishment. But, I guess you're still right, this would all be a lot easier if Sister Julienne was on my side. Right now, I don't feel like I want anyone to know because I'm struggling to tell what anyone will think of me when I can't even tell what the woman I'm supposed to know best will think" It was Shelagh who sighed this time. She had always been able to rely on Sister Julienne and the distance that was currently between them was still upsetting her.

"We can't keep it a secret forever my love. Maybe you should give Sister Julienne a chance, she might surprise you! And even if she does disapprove, despite whatever's currently going on, she loves you. People can get over all sorts of things when it means that the people they really love are happy. Are you happy about this?" Patrick finally had the courage to ask the question he wanted to know the answer to most.

"I think I am," Shelagh replied quietly after thinking for a moment.

"Well that's what matters," Patrick said, "We can handle everything else."

"I guess you're right. But, I don't want people to know just yet. I need time to prepare myself for the reactions people might have."

"We won't say anything to anyone until we have to then." Patrick stood up and held out his hand to Shelagh, "Come on, you've had a long day and you can't be feeling very well. You might feel a bit better after sleeping on it anyway." Shelagh smiled slightly as she took his hand. Whatever anyone else thought, she knew he would be right there with her.

 **Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N This took a little longer to write than I expected! I hope you enjoy!**

Sister Julienne arrived at the Tuesday clinic with a determined look on her face. She needed to talk to Shelagh as soon as possible before all of her worries drove her insane. She knew there was a risk that Shelagh would reject her, that Shelagh would be too hurt to forgive Sister Julienne straight away, if at all, but she had to try. As clinic went on Sister Julienne watched Shelagh carefully, trying to figure out what sort of day she was having and when the best time to try and speak to her was.

Shelagh noticed that Sister Julienne was watching her, and it made her nervous. Shelagh had gone back and forth a few times while deciding the best way to make things right with Sister Julienne. Was the best way to tell Sister Julienne about the baby outright and hope that Patrick was right about people being able to get over all sorts of things when they love people? No, that wouldn't work. That would be like a fairy tale she would tell her young daughter, where love concurs all and everything can be forgiven with a few words or a kind gesture. Shelagh wasn't even completely sure what she needed to be forgiven for! Surely a difference in opinions would not be enough to make someone as sensible as Sister Julienne angry for this long? Whatever it was, Shelagh had decided that it would be far better to try and make up with Sister Julienne before telling her about the baby so she had the people who meant most to her on her side in case the gossips of poplar had a problem with there being a baby.

The clinic was surprisingly quiet that day and many of their current patients were ones who were more familiar with the younger nurses so Sister Julienne soon found time to nervously go and attempt to speak to Shelagh. Shelagh felt a panic rising in her chest as she noticed Sister Julienne walk towards her. She couldn't be coming to speak to her as the secretary, for the past few weeks Sister Julienne had simply sent on of the other nurses if she needed something in what Shelagh still assumed was an attempt to avoid her completely. This meant that Sister Julienne must be coming to speak to her about something else and, as much as Shelagh had wanted Sister Julienne to speak to her properly, this wasn't part of her plan. Between the fall out with Sister Julienne, the death of Sister Evangelina, the shocking effects of thalidomide and now a shock pregnancy, the past few months had made Shelagh feel quite anxious over some things and this had had an effect on how much detail she went into things to make sure everything was right. She'd look over the details of every new medication in great detail, anything event or outing had a backup plan in case something happened, and she tried to plan every particularly important conversation down to the last word, with every possible thing the other person could say accounted for. The one thing she hadn't thought of, was the possibility of Sister Julienne having a sudden change of heart and wanting to speak to her.

"Shelagh!" Sister Julienne started, trying to keep her nervousness from showing, "I was wondering if I could speak to you after clinic? It's about a personal matter." Shelagh froze. She could tell that Sister Julienne was nervous, they'd known each other long enough to recognise the others habits, but this still wasn't what she had planned. Shelagh wanted to give Sister Julienne a chance, to see what this personal matter was, but what Shelagh had to tell her was important and she needed to make things needed to be right between them. She needed more time.

"I'm sorry Sister, but I actually have plans for this evening so I need to be getting home. If it's not an emergency then perhaps we could talk another time another time?" Shelagh asked.

"Oh, yes, of course…. another time!" Sister Julienne replied, disappointed at how the conversation had gone. She also realised that it was Shelagh who was acting odd this time, like what she was saying was not quite truthful. Perhaps Shelagh really didn't want Sister Julienne in her life anymore.

Sister Julienne continued to think about this throughout the rest of the day until she was called out to a difficult case late in the evening. It soon transpired that this was a case she would also need the assistance of Dr Turner for so he was called out soon afterwards. Luckily, everything went surprisingly smoothly and it wasn't too late when they were able to leave.

"I'm sorry to have called you out Dr Turner, it seems you weren't really needed after all!" apologised Sister Julienne.

"It's quite alright Sister, better to be safe than sorry!" he replied.

"Yes, but still, it must be difficult trying to get someone to look after the children at such short notice"

"Timothy's quite responsible these days if we really need help and Mrs Penny lives quite close, so you don't need to worry about that." Patrick said, "And Shelagh's at home this evening anyway!"

"Is she? For some reason, I'd gotten it into my head that she was busy! Never mind, I'll see you soon Doctor, and thank you again for your help!" Sister Julienne said quickly as she grabbed her bicycle and began her journey back home. This left Patrick standing there wondering if he'd said something wrong, he hadn't had a chance to speak to Shelagh properly since the clinic but he didn't remember her saying anything about going out. Maybe this was something she had just told someone to avoid something. She had been very tired recently and she needed a break. He decided the best thing was to get home and make sure everything was alright there and he hadn't left Shelagh if she had needed him.

Sister Julienne rode back to Nonnatus house without really thinking about it, she knew the route like the back of her hand. She kept thinking about how Shelagh had lied to her. Was this confirmation that Shelagh was avoiding her now? That she didn't want to speak to her at all? She was so lost in her own thoughts as she wondered though Nonnatus house that she didn't realise she had almost walked into the living room, where Nurses Franklin and Crane were having what sounded like a very serious and private conversation. Sister Julienne was about to walk away until she heard something that interested her.

"If you ask me, Mrs Turner is still taking on far too much, especially now we know about the condition she's in!" Nurse Crane said. Condition? What condition? Sister Julienne thought. Was something wrong?

"After everything she's been through recently she needs to be taking things slowly." Replied Nurse Franklin, "and this thing with Sister Julienne can't be helping. Shelagh's seemed so anxious to get everything right recently, she's probably not even thought about how her workload could affect the baby. I'll speak to her next time I see her." Baby? Sister Julienne couldn't believe it! Shelagh was pregnant and she hadn't told her? No, of course she hadn't, not after the way Sister Julienne had behaved. And whatever was going on between them wasn't helping. Guilt washed over Sister Julienne as she quickly made a decision. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day she was going to speak to Shelagh properly and try and sort this thing out once and for all.

 **Thanks for reading:)! Please review if you have time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry it's been a while! Depending on how my revision goes the next chapter shouldn't take half as long so please stick with me! There's also probably a few grammer mistakes as I'm billingual and tend to get a bit confused between the different sets of rules. And I know nothing about how inspections work or how early kids start talking. Hope you enjoy reading it anyway :)**

In the end, it was weeks before they managed to speak properly, the Turners had been busy trying to aid a campaign for more thorough testing of medication. They simply didn't have time to talk, or that's what Shelagh had told herself. Sister Julienne had tried to speak to her the day after Shelagh had made excuses to speak to her and she had found herself making excuse after excuse not to have the conversation that they so desperately needed to have. In truth, as time went on they both became more and more nervous about speaking to each other, each seemingly coming up with new worries by the day. Shelagh still feared that Sister Julienne would be angry about the pregnancy when she found out but she also wanted her to know. Her former sister had been a fantastic godmother to her daughter and Shelagh knew that Angela loved Sister Julienne and she didn't want to ruin their relationship. Nor did she want to further damage her own relationship with Sister Julienne as it had once been one of the most important relationships in her life, and she missed it. She was just far too anxious to know where to start.

Sister Julienne now knew that Shelagh had avoided her that day after the clinic and her fear that the Turners no longer wanted her to be part of their lives was growing. Shelagh seemed to have a new excuse not to see her every day and she kept coming back from deliveries to find the nurse chatting about a visit from Shelagh and young Angela while she had been out. Sister Julienne tried to tell herself that it was just a coincidence, but it was always a delivery that either involved Doctor Turner or involved a mother who was put down as a case that may need the assistance of the maternity home but had wanted to try a home birth. Shelagh was definitely avoiding her. Sister Julienne also feared that the amount of pressure Shelagh was under at the moment was going to have an effect on the baby.

The thing that scared Sister Julienne most was the amount of anger she found herself feeling. She was angry at Shelagh for avoiding her and not telling her about the baby, especially as she had noticed that Shelagh was starting to show. She was angry at Dr Turner for not using the influence he seemed to have on Shelagh to get Shelagh to tell her or at least tell her himself. But most of all, Sister Julienne was angry at herself. How had she let it get this far? She knew that she had hurt Shelagh. She had realised she was in the wrong weeks ago and still hadn't managed to correct it. And Shelagh seemed to be pushing her further and further away. This was the woman she had come to think of as a daughter yet apart from very quick exchanges at the clinic about patients, they hadn't spoken properly in months. Shelagh hadn't told her about the baby or how Angela and Timothy were doing which was something Shelagh usually spoke about every day. Everything was just too awkward and it was starting to affect not only their personal lives but their work lives too. How were the surgery and Nonnatus house supposed to work together efficiently if the two people who usually organised everything weren't on speaking terms?

Things first began to change on a cold but sunny Tuesday in the Turner's flat.

"Patrick, I know you had a long night, but I really do need you to get up now! Angela decided that she didn't like her breakfast so I've got to get changed and take her to Nonnatus House since Mrs Penny's still ill and I've got to get everything ready for the surgery" Patrick recognised the stressed tone of his wife's voice immediately and knew that she needed his help. As he sat up and looked over to his wife he noticed something he hadn't noticed before.

"Hang on a minute love," Patrick said as he crossed the room. He stopped when he reached her and gently turned her so she could she the reflection of her side in the mirror.

"I'm showing!" She exclaimed quietly, looking at her reflection in awe, "I guess with everything going on I hadn't slowed down enough to notice."

"Well now that you have noticed are you going to slow down a bit? For me?" Patrick looked at his wife hopefully. Shelagh had been taking on far too much recently and it was beginning to worry him. Before Shelagh could answer they heard the sound of the postman outside the front door.

"We can talk about that later. Could you check on Angela and get the post please dear?" Shelagh's eyes didn't leave her reflection. Patrick smiled and left the room quietly to check on their young daughter.

"Hello Angel girl," he said quietly as he entered the living room. Receiving a large grin and some excitable yet incoherent babbling back he bent down to pick her up. "You're going to be very good for Nurse Franklin today, aren't you sweetheart? Especially with Mummy having so much on. But it'll all be worth it in the end when you've got a baby brother or sister!"

"Baby?" Angela replied pointing at herself.

"Yes sweetheart, you're a baby, but soon there's going to be another baby too!"

"'ere?"

Patrick grinned at his daughter. She was getting quite good at talking when she tried. Taking her response to be asking where the baby was he replied, "Well, the baby is in Mummy's tummy at the moment, but he or she will be out soon!"

"In tummy?" Angela looked very shocked at her Daddy for a moment. "Mummy eat baby?"

Patrick laughed at his daughter's face, "No sweetheart! That's just where babies grow!"

"In tummy?" Angela asked.

"Yes sweetheart, in tummy." Patrick pressed a small kiss onto his daughter's forehead before returning her to her playpen and going to check on the post.

Looking quickly through the post as he made his way back to the bedroom, Patrick stopped at one particularly important looking letter. It was addressed to the surgery, but as the names the letters were addressed to were the same and the addressees were so close, their letters often ended up in the wrong place.

"Love, this is addressed to the surgery so I'm assuming it's more for you than me." Patrick said, grinning at his wife as he passed the letter to her. His ability to forget and lose important things had become a running joke between the two. Shelagh grinned back at him as she opened the letter and read through it quickly. Her face dropped.

"Patrick… this says that someone's coming to give us our inspection in two days!" She exclaimed with a worried look on her face.

"Two days! But they always give more warning than that!"

"I know! How are we supposed to get everything ready in two days?" Shelagh panicked. She knew that they took good care of the surgery and that they shouldn't have any problem, but she still liked to be more prepared than this. She read over the letter again, "this definitely says that the inspection is for both the surgery and the services provided from Nonnatus House. I'll to call the number on this letter and check that this information is correct." Shelagh rushed down the hall. Patrick sighed. This was the last thing his wife needed to be doing. Everything seemed to be piling on top of them and she needed to be resting, especially with her medical history. Shelagh stormed back into the room suddenly, her face filled with an anger that Patrick hadn't seen before.

"According to the secretary I just spoke to we've already been informed about this inspection, Nonnatus House confirmed that it was ok for the inspection to go ahead. How could Sister Julienne do this Patrick? Is she so angry at me that she would risk something as important as the surgery?" She rushed out again. Patrick couldn't tell if Shelagh was angry or heartbroken at this point, but he did know that Shelagh was probably going to Nonnatus House and that he needed to follow Shelagh before she said something that she would regret.

 **Thanks for reading! Reviews are apprieciated :)**


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